Set Aside Specific Times for Socializing

Time management is an essential tool in real estate, and also in social media. We discussed it this week on the #RAWRE chat on Twitter. Lots of great suggestions and discussion, find it via http://search.twitter.com and type in #RAWRE to see the whole thread of the conversation.

I always recommend to my real estate coaching clients that they set aside specific chunks of time for their social media activities, just like they would for any other aspect of prospecting. Social media compliments your prospecting and marketing, it doesn’t replace any of the traditional methods you use – for instance calling expireds or FSBO, nor should it replace regular contact with your past clients.

This is often lost in translation I think, so many agents think that social media is the holy grail, that it will solve all their problems in a tough market and down economy. It can help, it will gain you more exposure, but you still need to be the real estate expert. The consumer is online and looking for information, you want to be the one they find to provide it. So get out there and do it!

Another point this week I want to bring up is to consider your sources. As a real estate agent we deal with all kinds of specialists and experts, so the analogy I would like to bring is this, would you call a roofer to fix a heater? No, so why wouldn’t you ask a real estate agent who is also an expert in social media to help you? Our industry is specialized, and I know myself and a few others have chosen to share our successes with the industry in hopes to help us all better serve the consumer and our clients.

We are all out there in the trenches together, experiencing the market and the changes in financing, rates, and so on. Those of us who are working real estate agents and social media experts are a unique breed and well suited to help other real estate agents gain the edge they need to succeed. So – before you call that roofer to fix the heater, ask yourself what the roofers qualifications are to fix a heater.

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